


Pitching, Pining, and Perfection

by cooliopio



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Baseball, Alternate Universe - High School, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Happy Ending, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, Korean Keith (Voltron), Lance has a big family, Multi, Nightmares, Slow Burn, keith is secretly adorable, kind of, lance has a gay crisis, lance is a mamas boy, no huge conflict
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-11-17 02:56:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11266491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cooliopio/pseuds/cooliopio
Summary: Lance Sanchez, star pitcher of the Altea Tech baseball team, is in need of a job to keep being able to pay his tuition. Fluent in spanish, he lands a tutoring gig-- to none other than his rival Keith Kogane, Galra High's star player.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! Thanks for giving this fic a chance-- it's my first kinda big project I took on. I'm trying to develop my writing skills slowly but surely! Glossary of baseball terms in the end notes!
> 
> Italics in conversation between Lance and his mom are in spanish!

Bottom of the ninth inning. Altea Tech has a 3-0 lead over Galra High. Lance Sanchez, right hand pitcher, has pitched a no-hitter so far, as he was adamant about not being taken out and replaced with a reliever in the sixth. Keith Kogane, left hand batter and Lance’s rival, is set on the two out full count with bases loaded. This next pitch could mean their win, or their loss. Lance was nervous. He refused to be taken out even though he just walked three players in a row, as his previous innings were flawless. He has this. 

 

With sweat on his brow, Sanchez takes a deep breath as he is set. He feels his cleat pressed up against the rubber. He began his windup and decided to switch the pitch up, and use a pitch that is hard to hit if you're not expecting it, but easy to get right-- an eephus. The baseball leaves his hand perfectly and breaks at the exact right time. Lance thinks he's done it-- his third perfect game in his high school career, which, sets a new school record. But the catcher, Hunk Kalawai'a, does not feel the ball make contact in his mitt as he expected. Instead, Kogane is making full impact on the slow pitch, sending it out of the park. 

 

Keith lazily trots the bases, laughing at his walk-off grand slam, sending Galra High over Altea Tech 4-3. Keith high fives the runners he batted in at home plate, and walks back into the team’s dugout. Lance throws his old, beat up baseball glove towards the Altea Tech dugout, and runs in. Suddenly, the lights are too bright, the home crowd's cheers are too loud, and his eyes are stinging in frustration. 

 

"That goddamn Kogane! Again?!" Lance cries out in frustration as he kicks the bench. 

"Well, he's their pinch hitter for a reason, he hits 305 off the bench." Allura, their manager, consoles, patting Lance’s shoulder.

Lance scoffs. "Well yeah! But that doesn't mean I have to like it! That's the second walk-off he's hit against me. Fuck home field advantage!"

Allura laughs an amused giggle as Coran, their head coach, stands up to talk. 

"Well! Things like this happen! Not much we can do now, is there? Good job everyone, let’s load the busses and head back home!" he announces enthusiastically, met with a murmur on compliance from the rest of the team. 

As they make their way to the busses, Lance spots Keith a couple feet away. 

"Hey! Kogane!" Lance calls. 

Keith turns his head, prompting Lance to continue.

"That's the last walk-off you'll hit against me! Just wait and see!" 

Keith smirks. "Maybe if you're pitching wasn't so predictable I wouldn't do it as often!"

Lance gasps, scandalized. "That’s the first time I've ever thrown an eephus, you whore!" he says, unable to keep his composure as he breaks out into a laugh that leaves him bent over. 

"You don't hide what you plan to do very well." Keith winks. 

Lance closes his eyes and purses his lips while pressing his palms together at his mouth as Allura claps his shoulder, laughing, ushering him onto the bus. 

 

They arrive back at Altea Tech near 11pm, and Lance groggily plods over to his old, dull green, beat up car. With his large family, he wasn't privileged enough for his parents to buy him a decent one. Lance was thankful for his car, which he bought with the money he spent his summer detasseling corn. Lance reflects on his summer spent detasseling as he inserts the key to the ignition. The sweltering heat covered head-to-toe in clothing to avoid getting cut. Who knew corn was that sharp? And the bugs? No thanks, Lance did not want to get bit. 

Lance slumped against the back of the driver's seat as he put the car in reverse, and backed out of his parking space in the student parking lot. 

The drive home was quiet. On the sparingly lit roads home, Lance had time to really think. He didn't really blame himself for Keith's grand slam, as Keith is an all-star player. But what did he mean by he was too predictable? Was it his face? Was his hand not well hid enough and he could tell what the pitch was going to be? But that wouldn't make any sense-- he had 8 ⅔ perfectly pitched innings, and the rest of the team was Keiths calibre of playing ability. Oh well. Lance figures he would just have to ask Keith himself if he ever got the chance.  _ Yeah right _ , he thinks, _ like that opportunity would ever present itself.  _

Lance pulls up into his driveway at approximately 11:37pm, late enough so that all his little siblings are asleep, but still early enough to where his parents are still up. 

He walks into the door with a quiet 'I'm home',  gently shutting it behind him as he kicks his cleats off. He tosses his bags into a pile in the corner of the small mudroom entrance to his house. His two bats make a small clink noise as the aluminium made contact with each other, to which Lances shoulders meet his ears as the noise was abrasive in the quiet abode. 

Lance turns the corner into the kitchen, where his mother has her head in her hands, staring at the pile of bills on the large, beat up, wooden dining table. 

_ "Mom? Everything alright?" _ Lance asks, tentatively. 

_ "Yes, Alejandro, but the money is a bit tight this month." _ Lance's mother, Maria, replies in a strained tone. 

_ "How tight?" _ Lance inquires as he steps towards his mother to sit next to her. 

_ "Alejandro, son, I... I'm not sure if I can pay your tuition next month." _ Maria apologized as her voice cracked. 

_ "I-it’s alright mom, I'll find a job to help."  _ Her son assured. 

_ "But you shouldn't have to! It's your education!"  _ she sighed. 

_ "Mom, It's alright. I'll get a job at the corner store or something, yeah?"  _

_ "...alright. I love you son, you shouldn't have to do this."   _

_ "I love you too, mom."  _ Lance grinned as he kissed his mother on the forehead, wishing her goodnight. 

 

The next morning when Lance arrived at school, he was extremely stressed. He had no clue how to put himself out and get a job this late in the school year. 

Lunch time approached after period 4, and Lance sat down at his seat with his usual gang: Hunk, Pidge, and Allura. 

Allura was trying to console her boyfriend, who goes to a different school, on the phone. "I'm sure he'll find someone to help, yeah? He's not going to fail his junior year, trust me. Look-- I know. What do you mean? I'm sure he's not trying to fail. Just--! Babe. Listen. He'll find someone. I've got to go. Lunch is starting. Love you too, bye." the white haired girl sighed as the call ended.

"What was that about?" Pidge asked. 

"Oh--  the boyf's brother is failing spanish."

Lance perked up at the mention of someone failing spanish-- this could be a job opportunity. Lance  _ was _ fluent in spanish. 

But before Lance could question any further, Hunk asked another one first. "Allura, You've been dating this guy since you freshman year. You're a senior. Why do you refuse to tell us who his is? I mean, c'mon! That's so draining to hide!" 

"You guys wouldn't be too happy with me." Allura grumbled.

"Oh come on!" Hunk groaned, sitting back in his chair. Another day, another denial of who Alluras boyfriend was. 

Lance jumped at the chance to get a word in as a lapse in conversation presented itself. "Allura. Princess. Love of my life, Queen of Altea Tech--"

"What, Lance?" Allura clipped, exasperated. 

"You said something to him about someone failing spanish?"

"Oh, yeah. His brother is failing pretty hardcore. Needs a tutor and can’t find one."

"I can help."

"What? why would you need to do that?"

"I need to a job to pay the tuition for this wonderful schooling establishment."

"I thought your parents paid that?" Pidge interrogated. 

"Not anymore." Lance replied with a side eye. 

Allura coughed to bring Lance back to her attention. "Yes, you speak spanish fluently, don't you? I'll contact him to see if his brother is interested, and have him pass on your number, if that's fine with you?"

Lance broke out into a smile. "Yes! That's amazing! Wonderful eve--" Lance paused and coughed as he regained his cool facade "I mean, yeah. That's chill. Whatever."

Allura sighed as she pulled out her phone to text her boyfriend.

The school release bell rang three classes later and Lance met Pidge at his car. He had been giving her rides home since her brother, Matt, graduated. 

"Sup loser." Pidge greeted as she climbed into the passenger's seat.

"Nothing much, edgelord." Lance replied as he turned the key. "Oh! Pidge, do you mind if we stop at walmart? I need to pick up some-- uh... what are they called? They're round and you put food on them? Ok this is bad... not good-- uh... what are they called in english? los plato? uhhhhhhhhh los... plato... plat-"

"PLATES. PAPER PLATES, LANCE." Pidge shouted to break through Lance's mumbling.

"Yes! That's it!"

"Geez, you sure you can tutor someone in spanish? Looks like you need an english tutor." Pidge cackled. 

"English isn't my first language and you know it, Pigeon!" Lance groaned as he put the car into drive. 

 

 

Lance received a text as he set the newly purchased paper plates on the countertop in his home. He answered the message as he continued walking to his room.

>Hey. I need a spanish tutor?

<Who's this?

>This is the number shiro gave me through his girlfriend allura. 

>or is this the wrong number?

<shiro?! that's her boyfriends name?! discovery

<but yeah this is the right number. 

<im fluent in spanish

< my first language, actually.

>ah sweet. 

>im keith btw

<lance

<how bad are you failing? how soon do we need to start?

>i have a 33%

<fuck dude

>tell me about it

<immediately, then

>when are you free

<mondays and fridays

>same. the occasional weekend.

<cool. How about this friday we meet up?

>yeah that works. Where at?

<i'd imagine you live pretty close to my town? how about the library on north 7th street at 5?

>Town of Arus, right? i live in Balmera. So that works.

>thanks for this

<np man. but you know i need pay right?

>yeah i was told

<we can discuss that friday. 

>see you then

<later 

Lance jumped for joy as he locked his phone and threw it on his bed in one swift motion. He sprinted down the hallway into the den to tell his mother about the new job. Things were starting to go his way. 

 

He thought. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glossary of terms:  
> 'bottom' and 'top' on innings: a baseball game is broken up into nine 'innings', of which both teams bat. the first team to bat is called the 'top' of the inning and the 'bottom' is the second team to bat!  
> no hitter: the pitcher has not allowed a single run during the game  
> full count: the pitcher has thrown 3 of 4 allotted balls, and 2 of three allotted strikes   
> ball: a bad pitch that's outside the strike zone. 4 of these and the batter gets to automatically go on first base.   
> rubber: the small rectangle of white rubber the pitcher uses to pitch off of.  
> eephus pitch: a slow breaking ball in where the pitcher throws the ball high up into the air and it falls back into the stikezone, meant to mess up the batters timing  
> stikezone: a rectangle above the home plate where the pitcher is trying to throw pitches  
> walk-off: no further play is needed because the lead cannot be retaken by the losing team  
> grand slam: homerun with bases loaded  
> bases loaded: runners on all three bases  
> home field advantage: the home team gets to bat in the bottom of the inning. If losing, this means they can regain their lead without the other team being able to widen the gap or retake the game in the ninth
> 
> if you have any questions on other terms, please let me know in the comments and i'll answer you right away!
> 
> Tumblr: unfairlaywer


	2. Chapter 2

Friday hit and he was really nervous for 5 o'clock. He had no idea what this Keith dude looked like, or what his curriculum was like since he didn't go to Altea Tech. He didn’t know how to tutor someone either. What did he have to do? Help them fill out worksheets? Re-teach the entire course? God, Lance hoped he didn’t have to do that. That would take way too much work. Then again, this is work. Lance deeply sighed. 

Begrudgingly, Lance made his way to the library and sat at one of the tables. He received a new text at 4:56pm.

>hey, im here wya

<2nd floor back corner

>goctha 

Lance locked his phone and looked up, waiting for a strangers face to show up as they would round a corner. A face showed up... but it wasn't a stranger. 

It was none other than Keith Kogane, Shortstop and occasional Pinch Hitter extraordinaire of the Galra High baseball team.

"Keith?!" Lance whisper screamed.

"Lance!?" Keith replied, bewildered, as he made his way to the table. He shrugged his bag off of his shoulder and pulled the chair out and hesitantly took the seat. 

"Well, isn't this grand." Lance deadpans.

"Hey. I'm failing spanish. Let's go." Keith grumbles, not too happy with this arrangement either, as his brow furrows. 

"And I can't afford schooling. So, payment first. How much?" Lance quirks his eyebrows, amused at Keith’s dissatisfaction. 

"How much is your tuition?" Keith sighs, sitting up straighter. 

"I have a partial scholarship, so it's one hundred dollars a month for me." Lance states, arms crossed, sitting straighter. 

"You expect me to pay you that much a month?" Keith marveled, palms splayed on the table, leaning in. 

"You think this is my only job? God, no. fifty dollars a month. That breaks down to--"

"12.50 a week, I got it." Keith interrupts. "I'm not failing math too." Lance huffs out a small laugh.

"To get your money’s worth, and your pitiful thirty-three class percentage up to at least a sixty, we're going til 7:30. Every. Friday." Lance says, staring into Keith's dark eyes. 

Keith closes his eyes and sighs, letting his head hit the table, folding his arms on top. He breathes for a moment, then reaches into his backpack to grab his homework. He sets the thick binder down onto the square blue table they're using with a soft thud. 

"Let's get to work." Lance smiles. 

 

Lance plops onto his couch once he gets home, letting out a heavy sigh. 

_ "What's wrong, boy?"  _ his mother asks. 

_ "It's the guy I’m tutoring. Such an ass." _ Lance replies. 

_ "Language, boy." _

_ "Sorry mom"  _ Lance giggles sheepishly, _ "He's actually the guy on Galra High's baseball team I always complain about, the one who ruined my perfect game?"  _

_ "Ah, Him." _

_ "Yeah, him. He can't remember anything! I swear! He mixes the grammar all up and can't conjugate it right! Frustrating." _ Lance grumbles, now sitting at attention on the couch, expressing wildly with his hands. 

His mother laughs _ "Now, Alejandro, there could be a reason." _

_ "Or he just sucks." _ Lance groans as he falls face first into the throw pillows. 

_ "That too." _ His mother laughs, shaking her head. 

 

The next day at school, Lance confronts Allura at Lunch. 

"Shiro? That's his name?" Lance drawl’s to Allura, voice dripping with accusation. 

"Yes." Allura clips. 

"Why were you so afraid to tell us his name?" Hunk questions, obviously excited about the newfound discovery of the mysterious lad who stole Alluras heart, but extremely confused. 

"Well... his full name is Takahashi Shirogane. But he goes by Shiro." Allura mumbles. 

Hunk and Lance look at eachother, confused. But then all at once, the realization hits them. Both of their mouths drop open as they snap their heads over to Allura who is poking at her salad, hiding her face. Lance shrieks. 

"Shirogane?! The first baseman for Galra High?!" 

"Well.. Yeah..." Allura squeaks. 

Lance stands up, pushing his chair behind him. "That's! That's! Absurd! Blasphemy! It-- actually makes a lot of sense..." Lance realizes, pulling his hands out of the air, sitting down as he stares at them, eventually gently setting his head into them. 

"How does that make any sense?!" Hunk questions, even more confused now. 

"I'm tutoring his brother, Keith. Kogane. Keith Kogane." Lance answered, detached. 

"What?!" cries Hunk. 

"When I first got the text he mentioned his brother Shiro. It turned out keith was the texter. And I've heard his team members call him Shiro before... Shit man! I feel like my mind is one of those conspiracy cork boards with all the red yarn. Except everything makes sense." Lance laughs. 

"Well, have fun with your rival, buddy pal." Pidge adds. 

"Yeah, yeah, Pidgeon."

 

Two weeks passed of Lance tutoring Keith. Lance thinks it has been… successful. Keith shows Lance his grade report on the Fridays they spend together, and the thirty three percent slowly climbed to a forty percent. Lance figured it climbed a lot that quickly because when you hit rock bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up, really. And Lance could tell Keith was really grasping some of the grammar concepts of spanish, but he still flat out sucked at it. Lance and Keith form a weird friendship, though Lance doesn’t fully consider it a friendship, during their tutoring sessions. Lance, riding high on the authoritative aspect of tutoring, poked at Keith's shit-ness at Spanish. A lot. Keith didn’t necessarily enjoy getting poked at, but he figured it’s better than failing his spanish class. They discovered they had even more reason to be rivals, but all in good fun. You see, they both had bias on rival Major League baseball teams. They often made fun of each other's team rankings, as they weren’t doing so well overall. Lance enjoyed tutoring Keith, it was fun to talk to someone other than his lunch gang.

 

Baseball practice on the following Friday morning is hard. He is inconsistent during pitching practice, during batting practice he is hitting nothing but air, and his fielding is full of errors. And to top it all off, the pitching coach said if he allows another home run in the next game, he's not keeping him as a starter. Lance’s pitching had not been the most accurate lately. In the past couple of games he’s pitched he’d given up run after run, most of which were pitched that flew right down the center and got crushed out of the park. It's been an overall crappy day. Even his academic classes were biting him, as he got less than a seventy on two tests, threatening his merit scholarship. 

 

Lance was not looking forward to tutoring Keith later that day. His spirits were low, his energy gone, and his patience run out. Lance still went to his session either way, he had a tuition to pay for. 

 

Lance pulls up to the tiny library on the wet friday afternoon. The skies were clouded over which caused some rain in the latter half of the day. Lance felt that the weather fit his mood quite well. 

 

Lance plopped into the wooden chair across from Keith with a heavy sigh. 

 

“What’s up with you?” Keith questions, brow quirked. 

“I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s start with unit five today” Lance brushed off.

Keith didn’t make a move for his bag. “No seriously man, what the fuck?”

“I said. I don’t want to talk about it. Unit five.” Lance said, voice strong but uncertain. 

“Lance you being pissy is just going to distract from the lesson.” Keith demanded.

“Oh fuck off Keith, just get out unit five.”

“You’re telling me to fuck off? You’re the one who’s being cryptic and pissy.” Keith accused with his eyes wide, brows furrowed, hands on his chest. 

“You wanna know why, Keithy boy?” Lance seethed “It’s because my family’s too poor to send me to school, and my grades are slipping and I might lose the merit portion of my scholarship. That would mean i would need to come up with four-fifty a month instead of a hundred. But that’s not all! I might lose the baseball portion too-- with how fucking shit I’ve been at pitching lately. And you know how much money that would run me? A thousand a month. Altea Tech doesn’t fuck around, Keith. I can’t come up with that money, and so I may have to transfer to Arus high, which is notorious for its shitty education. Just fuck off!” Lance yelled, standing up and storming out of the building.

Keith’s cry of “Sorry for trying to be a good friend!” rang in Lance’s ears as the door shut behind him.  _ Friends, huh? _ Lance thought.  _ I didn’t know we could be considered friends.  _ A somber smile reached Lance’s lips. 

 

The Saturday afterwards, Lance was busy being a ball of stress and angst on his creaky twin sized mattress as his phone vibrated to signal an incoming message.

 

>hey its keith. 

>Sorry.

>i didnt mean to push

>i didnt know how shitty it was going for you

>i still need help tutoring if you’ll have me

<i didnt quit on you keefy boy

<todays just been a lot

>i noticed

>hey

>i can show you how i knew you were going to throw the eephus

>if that’ll help you keep your starting position

>to not lose your scholarship

<why would you do that

<we’re rivals

<you have the advantage

>not everything is about baseball

>its about your family and shit too now

>you have to go to school, lance

<thanks

<ill take you up on that

>meet at the little league fields tomorrow

<its sunday. I have church and baseball practice from noon to three

>just meet me at four then

<i guess. 

<thanks. 

>no problem.

Lance let his phone close on its own as he buried his face into his pillows. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on tumblr @ unfairlawyer.tumblr.com  
> comments and kudos are always appreciated! <3


	3. Chapter 3

Lance woke up on Sunday morning buzzing with anxiety in anticipation for he and Keith’s meeting. Lance really hoped it would play out as he hoped, he really can’t lose his scholarship.  _ Oh well.  _ He thought.  _ I still have church and practice to get through.  _

 

After church passed, Lance made his way to baseball practice. He really didn’t want to lose his spot as a starter. He took a deep breath in the driver's seat before stepping out into the parking lot. He grabbed his bag out of the trunk, and closed it gently to avoid attention being drawn to him. 

 

The pitching coach was one mean bitch. Iverson was six-seven, bald, and wore an eyepatch. He had no mercy when it came to, well, anything.

 

Lance walked the trail to the baseball fields, the grass and dirt path grounding him, calming his anxieties. He turned into the field, and hung his bag up on the chain fence that surrounded it before descending into the dugout. The dugout area was nice. Most schools don't have actual underground dugouts, but Altea Tech is a rich kid school, after all. The stairs to the dugout is to the side of it instead in the front of it, which leads into a crossroads. Turning left takes you onto the field, right exits the park, and straightforward leads to a bullpen like area that the players use to hang their bags and bats for convenience sake, and where the catcher often puts on their gear due to more available space. Lance took the left onto the field. 

 

Coach Coran signaled for all the starters to get to their positions to do some throwing practice. The drill was simple. Lance pitched it to the catcher, who threw it to second base, who threw it to first, who threw it to third, who threw it to shortstop, who threw it to left field, who threw it to center field, who threw it to right field, who threw it back to second, who threw it back to Lance, who started the drill over again. Simple, really. But before Lance could pitch it for the first time, Iverson spoke up.

 

“Sanchez! Get your ass over here! We’re letting Rax lead pitching today!” Iverson boomed. 

Lance’s face dropped as he connected the dots. He was getting booted of the starting line. He dropped his head and jogged over to the designated bullpen area. Lance lifted his eyes to meet Iversons once he reached his destination. 

“Yes, Coach Iverson?” Lance wavered.

“Your pitching sucks lately. Three walks during that game against Galra High. And between now and then? Your ERA has gone up by a point and a half. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with baseball statistics, Sanchez, but that's pretty fucking pitiful. So today we’re working on your accuracy and technique.”

Lance let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. This could have been a lot worse. He made his way over to the mound. 

 

Lance placed his foot on the rubber and straightened up taking his set position, and took a deep breath. He began his windup by bringing his knee to his chest and pulling his glove upwards. Lance released the pitch when his airborne foot once again made contact with the ground. The bullpen catcher had to chase after it as it was way off the mark. 

“See! That’s what I’m talking about, Sanchez!” Iverson reprimanded.

“Sorry, sir.” Lance replied with a quiet, numb voice. 

“It’s your footing. You’re placing it too far to the left, and you can’t maintain your line of motion well enough. Not to mention you’re failing to square your shoulders, boy. Do it right!” 

“Yessir.” Lance huffed as he retook the mound.  _ This really could have been a lot worse,  _ Lance thought. 

 

The rest of practice was filled with Lance re-learning... everything. He obviously knew how to pitch, but it was nice to have the refresher. He brought his accuracy back up by ten percent in the end, so that was a win in his book. The first smile of the day graced Lance's face as he drove over to the little league fields to meet keith. 

 

The little league fields were… little. Their mounds were flat but they had multiple rubbers on them, so the field was usable for him and Keith. Lance walked on the concrete path that weaved between the fields before he saw the one Keith was stationed at. 

 

“Keefy boy!” Lance yelled, smile big on his face.

“Hey Lance.” Keith replied, deadpan. 

“Wha?! Aren’t you excited to see me? Your favorite?” Lance accused jokingly.

“You’re not my favorite.” Keith stated as he crossed his arms.

“Then who is?”

“Shiro.”

“But he’s your brother.”

“Yeah.”

“That doesn't count.”

“Does too.”

“Nope.”

“...”

“Anyways. We’re here for a reason. Help my ass, Keef.”

“Alright, alright.” Keith giggled

_ Damn, that was cute.  _ Lance thought.  _ What? What am I thinking? That was a little gay of me. It was a giggle. It wasn’t  _ cute. _ Well. Maybe just a little. Ugh. Intrusive thoughts begone, I’m not gay. _

Lance shook his head and pursed his lips as he made his way to the mound and Keith crouched into a catcher's position.

“Alright, Lance. Get ready to throw the eephus.” 

Lance got into his set position, following with his windup.

“Hold that!” Keith shouted as he sprinted over to Lance. “Look at your leg. Its cocked up way higher than your normal pitch, Which means you’re going to throw it higher. Keep going through the motion.” Lance complied. “Now when you brought your throwing arm back, you put it way further down than normal. Not to mention your grip is different than anything you usually use. You can relax now.” 

Lance looked at Keith, Bewildered. “How can you even tell that from the batters box?!”

“Good eyes.” Keith assured. 

“Witchcraft.” Lance chided. 

“Don’t blame me if you get into the majors and everyone reads you like Tolstoy.” Keith poked.

“Tolstoy?! Nobody fucking reads Tolstoy! You would have been better off saying Austen.” Lance laughed. 

“... I read tolstoy” Keith mumbled

“Holy shit, you’re a huge ass nerd!” Lance shriek-laughed and Keith blushed. “Anyways, that’s so… specific. Thanks for the advice I guess? But it’s really only going to come in handy when playing your team.” 

“Yeah, whatever.” grumbled Keith.

“Man, this had me so stressed. The past couple of weeks I’ve been shit at pitching, trying different things because you read me so easily. But it caused me to  _ stay _ shit at pitching and I had to relearn everything. But it turns out, you’re just a baseball genius!” Lance rambled as he walked closer to Keith. 

Keith coughed and Lanced stopped to look at him. Keith’s face was red and he appeared flustered, but Lance couldn’t figure out why. Keith backed up a little bit, Lance realizing he may have gotten a little too close. 

“W-well, sorry for dragging you out here just for that. I think I’ll get going. See you tomorrow at the library.” Keith squeaked before he turned and ran off.

“Y-yeah, bye.” Lance replied.  _ That was weird, _ he thought.

 

 

 

Lance sat in the shower that night and just… thought. He thought about pitching and his grades and Keith. His weird but charming mullet, his dark eyes, his nice body, his smile, his laugh, his-- wait? Why was he thinking about Keith so much, It’s not like he liked him. He was straight! But then again, Keith was very pretty. Lance screwed his eyes shut and groaned as he shut off the water and got ready for bed. 

 

The following Monday Lance sat at his lunch table poking at his pasta. He was thinking about Keith, again. He was trying to figure out if he was gay for Keith or not, frankly. He seldom acknowledged his attraction to Keith, but he still liked girls. This was all too much for poor conservatively raised Lance.  

“Hey memelord” Pidge greeted as she sat down at the lunch table. “Damn, dude, what’s got your panties in a twist?” 

“Pidge. I have a… friend. Who likes a guy. But he’s pretty sure he’s straight. But now he thinks he might be gay because of it and he’s confused. What should he do?” 

“Lance it’s okay if you’re bisexual.”

“W-What?! I said I’m asking for a friend!” Lance sputtered. 

“Yeah, right.” Pidge scoffed. 

Allura sat down in time to get the gist of the conversation. “Oh! Are we talking about Lance’s major crush on Keith?”

“Yep!” Pidge confirmed.

Lance looked betrayed. “I do NOT have a crush on Keith!”

Pidge scoffed. “Dude, you literally talked about how buff he was for ten minutes last Thursday.”

“I can appreciate a man’s physique without being gay!”

“You also talked about his, I quote, ‘beautiful fucking eyes’, yesterday in the group chat.” Allura added.

“I’m not gay!” Lance defended.

“Yeah, because you’re bisexual.” Pidge stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I don’t even know what that means!”

“You’re trying to get into both guys and girls pants.”

“O-oh. Fuck”

Hunk clapped Lance's shoulder “It’s okay buddy. We knew you’d get here eventually. 

Lance put his face in his hands “But I don’t even know if Keith is gay!”

“He is.” Allura said, sure of herself. 

“And how would you know?!”

“Shiro.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Lance sighed and took a bite of his pasta. 

 

The tutoring session that same Monday night was a bit… awkward. Lance couldn’t stop blushing to save his life. 

“Dude, are you okay?” Keith asked, worried. “You look a bit sick.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Squeaked lance. 

“Alright man. Lets keep going the--” Keith was saying as he got cut off by a huge clap of thunder. “Oh fuck me!” Keith jumped.

Lance barked out a laugh “Dude, are you afraid of storms? Aww wittle keef afwaid of stowms..” 

“I was just surprised that's all!” Keith growled. 

Lance laughed “Yeah, yeah. Lets keep going.”

 

The session came to an end an hour later, and the storm that was brewing outside escaladed and it was now hailing.

“Fuck man…” Keith groaned. 

“Whats up dude?”

“I gotta drive home in this shit.”

Lance did not like that idea. Hailing and driving? No thanks. What if the windshield was broke open? “Just stay with me for the night dude.”

Keiths head whipped around so his wide eyes could meet Lance’s. “Really?!”

“Sure man, already 10 people in the house what's one more? I only live like a block away. 

“That… that would be nice. Thanks.”

“No problem dude.” 

 

Lance pulled up into the driveway and turned the car off. “We’re here. Oh, also, This entire house speaks exclusively spanish, so I don't expect you to talk to them. All the kids know english, obviously, but my parents don't. You’ll be fine.” Keith was suddenly a lot more nervous. 

 

Lance’s house wasn’t particularly big or small, it was a normal size. It was well taken care of, you could tell, even in the torrential rain. The white siding was perfectly white while the green roofing and gutters were ushering the water into a basin used to water plants. It was nice, Keith thought. 

 

Lance opened the door and started calling out in spanish. _ “Mom! I have a friend staying over! He’s from a town over and I didn’t want him driving in the hail!” _

_ “That’s fine! What’s his name?” _

_ “Keith!” _ Keith’s palms started sweating at the sound of his name.

_ “Is that the boy you tutor?” _

_ “Yes mama!” _

_ “Does he know spanish?” _

_ “He can’t be any better than Ava!” _

_ “Oh boy… Well, come on in!” _

Lance turned around to Keith, motioning for him to enter. “Follow me, My room’s this way” 

Keith bowed to Lance’s mom in acknowledgement and thanks, and continued following lance down the hallway into his room. The last door on the left, Keith noted. 

“Here we are.” Lance said as he opened the door.

Keith thought Lance’s room was very un-lance. It was very tidy, the walls were blank and painted white. The wooden dresser was pressed up against the far wall next to the closet, and the bed lie under the window. The bed had red sheets and a blue duvet adorning the top of it. 

“I can get you some extra blankets and a pillow for the floor if you want. Or you can take my bed” offered Lance.

“The floor’s fine.” Keith assured. 

Lance nodded as he moved to the closet to get out extra bedding.

“Hey, what were you and your mom talking about?” Keith inquired.

“How you suck at spanish worse than my two year old sister.”

“Hey!” 

“Im serious!” lance laughed. 

 

Keith and Lance sat in content silence browsing through their phones as the night went on. 

“Hey Keith”

“What Lance”

“Why do you suck so fucking bad at spanish”

“Wow, ouch man”

“No like. Seriously dude. Your grammar is so fucked up how do you even function. It’s not close to English, even!”

“I get it confused with Korean grammar.”

“Yeah, right.”

“No, seriously.”

“You speak korean?”

“Yeah. I lived in Korea until I was six.”

“Oh, wild. Why did you move here?”

“Because I got adopted?”

“You’re adopted?!”

“Yeah? You didn’t know that?”

“No!”

“Why do you think Shiro and I have different names? He’s Japanese! My adoptive parents are white, Lance. You’ve seen them on facebook.”

“Wow. I really am an idiot.”

“You’re just now figuring that out?” Keith laughed as Lance threw a pillow at him.

Keith and Lance calmed down for a few minutes before a loud  _ “Alejandro!” _ was called down the hallway. 

“Ah shit, be right back Keith.” Lance said as he got up. This confused Keith. Why did Lance respond to the name Alejandro? His name is Lance. 

 

_ “What ma?” _

_ “Has Keith ate yet?” _

_ “Not sure. I’ll ask.” _ Lance trotted off to ask Keith his mother's question. He was gone for a brief moment before he returned.  _ “He said he hasn’t.” _

_ “I made enough for him. We’re not eating at the table tonight, I don’t want to overwhelm the boy. And your sisters are busy anyways.” _

_ “Cool. I’ll tell him.” _

 

Lance returned to Keith bearing the news of an eminent dinner. 

“Oh cool. So we can just eat in here?” Keith asked.

“Yep.” Lance nodded.

“Hey, Lance?”

“Yeah dude?”

“Why did your mom call you Alejandro?” Keith asked tentatively.

“‘Cause that’s my name?” Lance answered, confused, leaning forward slightly.

“Your name is Lance, Though?” Keith verified. 

“Nah dude, nickname. Couldn’t tell you how I got it though, I don’t remember. Though, it kind of is like a second name now. I just introduce myself as Lance. Shit! I don’t even know if Pidge knows my name is actually Alejandro!” Lance realized, eyes wide at the prospect, mouth open and shoulders hunched. 

Keith laughed. “I get it. My name was changed over when I came to the states, I used to legally be Kang-Dae Kogane.” 

“Woah!” Lance shouted, making Keith jump. “We both know something classified about each other. Keith, if I ever die. I’ll take this to the grave.” 

Keith sighed and shook his head. “You’re so fucking weird.”

“Can’t deny that, I guess.”

“C’mon, let’s go get some food.” 

The pair of boys walked into the busy kitchen, where children aged from two to nineteen were getting their fix of food. 

“You don’t have to talk to any of them, just get your food and go.” Lance whispered to Keith. 

Keith nodded and walked into the kitchen with Lance. 

“Stranger danger! Stranger danger!” Screamed Lance’s six year old sister Raquel. 

_ “Raquel! Stop screaming in this household or so help me! That’s Lance’s friend, Keith.”  _ Lance’s mom spoke. 

“Oh! Sorry mystery man.” Raquel apologized. 

Keith loaded his plate full of brown rice, not his favorite as he preferred white rice but it was a close second, assorted steamed vegetables, beans, and some meat. Lance met him in the walkway to head back to Lance’s room together. 

The pair sat and ate in silence. Keith was impressed with Mama Sanchez’s cooking. It was flavorful and nutritious at the same time. He was full and pleased at the end of the meal. 

 

Lance got ready for bed as Keith lay in his blanket pile on the floor. Keith was trying to control his breathing. Keith was not too fond of storms. So the best he could do was try and sleep. He nodded off to sleep just while Lance was climbing in. He heard a faint “Night, Keith” as soon as he slipped under. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on tumblr @ unfairlawyer.tumblr.com  
> comments and kudos are always appreciated! <3


	4. Chapter 4

Lance was woken in the middle of the night to whimpering. “Keith?” he asked, eyes crusted over and mouth dry. The whimpering continued. “Keith?!” he insisted, eyes now wide open and vision blurry. He could see Keith’s body shaking on the ground. The whimpering escalated to screaming, to which Lance jumped out of bed and jolted Keith awake. “Keith!”  
“Lance?” Keith cried.  
“Keith, what’s wrong buddy?”  
“Ni’ mare.” Keith mumbled.  
“What?” Lance asked, confused.  
“Nightmare.” Keith gritted out, voice soft. Lance realized that Keith had a tight grip on his shoulders, knuckles turning white.  
“Keith, babe, why did you have a nightmare?” Lance asked, hoping Keith was too out of it to realize his slip up.  
“Parents.” Keith continued with his one-word answers.  
“Mr. and Mrs. Smith?” Lance prodded.  
“No.”  
“Who else?”  
“Korea.”  
Realization dawned on Lance’s face. “Keith… why were you put into the system?”  
“Dead.” “Who died?” “Parents.”  
“How?”  
“Accident.”  
“Like a car accident or a construction accident?”  
“A car accident. During a storm.” Keith said, voice wobbling. Lance was glad Keith was able to spit out more than one word at a time in his current state.  
“So the storm brought back, like, PTSD?”  
“I guess.”  
“I’m sorry, Keith.” Lance apologized.  
“It… It’s okay. It was a long time ago.” Keith said, the tears silently falling down his face opposing his previous statement.  
“It doesn’t have to be okay, Keith. Let’s go back to bed, yeah?” Lance said as he moved to get back on his bed, but Keith gripped his wrist tightly.  
“Stay?” pleaded keith, chin tucked into his neck.  
“How about you come on my bed?” Lance offered.  
“Y-yeah. Okay.” Keith agreed. Lance hopped onto his bed as Keith crawled up next to him. Lance tucked Keith into his arms, holding him. It was easy since Keith was shorter, Lance noticed. Lance buried his face into Keith’s soft, dark hair, and nodded back off to sleep. 

Lance was a mess the next day at school. Keith was already gone when Lance woke up that morning, as Keith still had to drive back home. Lance couldn’t keep his focus during any of his classes, and when he was called upon all the answers were wrong. Even in AP Calculus, the class he shared with Pidge. And pidge immediately knew something was up-- AP Calculus was Lances best class. Pidge decided she would confront him at lunch. 

Lance was no better at lunch, barely even poking at his pasta.  
“What’s wrong, Lance?” Allura asked.  
“I think I’m in love with Keith.” he admitted.  
“I knew it. He’s been acting weird all day.” Pidge said to Allura.  
“Why are you so down, then? Did something happen between you and Keith?” Worrisome Allura asked.  
“Something sure happened alright.” Lance groaned.  
Hunk and Pidge immediately started chanting “Deets! Deets! Deets! Deets!” while Lance’s groaning got longer and louder.  
“No but seriously, what happened?” Pidge asked.  
“Well. We slept together.” Lance stated.  
The entire table gasped. Well, except Hunk, who exclaimed “Congrats on the sex!”  
Lance’s eyes shot over to Hunk. “Not that kind of sleeping together! Who do you think I am, a manwhore?”  
“Well…”  
“Don’t even start with that, Allura.” Lance bit as Allura backed off.  
“Then what do you mean?” Pidge inquired.  
“We literally slept together. He crashed at my place and he had a nightmare. So he slept with me for comfort. And I think I’m in love with him” Lance whined.  
“Well, I think that’s wonderful!” Allura clapped.  
“Ive known the guy for three weeks! Tops!” Lance exclaimed, frantic. “Isn’t that too fast? Thats creepy!”  
“Well, Shiro and I only knew each other for a couple weeks before we started going out too, and we’ve been together for years.” Allura assured.  
“Yeah. I guess.” grumbled Lance. “I don’t even know where to start to ask him out.”  
“Just let it happen naturally! That would be so cute!” Squealed Allura.  
Lance groaned as he took the first bite of his now cold pasta. 

Lance was distracted at baseball practice that night. So much so that he completely tuned out the coaches announcements. Which is why, as he stands in front of Keith at practice the next day for a scrimmage game, he is incredibly confused.  
Hunk jogged over to Lance “Hey man, you alright?”  
“Yeah. I just wasn’t expecting to see my crush right here in front of me today. Of course I’m not okay, Hunk! What the fuck!” Lance whisper screams.  
“It’s your fault for not listening to Coran yesterday, dude! He said they were coming!”  
Lance groans in reply.  
Lance runs over to the pitcher's mound and throws some warm-up pitches to Hunk. Since the scrimmage is taking place at Altea Tech, Altea Tech gets the home field advantage this time. Lance gets through the top of the first inning, but not without fault. He struck out the first batter with three strikes in a row. As much as he hates the man, Iverson really taught him some good things about pitching. The second batter had earned a full count. He kept fouling off balls though, which was unnecessarily wearing down Lance’s throwing arm. The third out was a pick-off. The third batter, whom Lance walked, was taking advantage of Lances rare occurrence of throwing to pick someone off. But Lance had to do it. A twenty foot lead? Ridiculous. Lance had easily threw the ball to the first baseman who tagged the runner out. 

Lance ran over to the team’s dugout and glances over the batting order that had been posted. Lance is hitting in the eighth spot, typical of a pitcher. Lance Doesn’t suspect he’ll be hitting until the late second or early third inning during this five inning scrimmage, so he takes his seat on the bench to relax. And mostly look at Keith’s butt. Lance really thinks baseball pants on hot guys should be illegal. And the way Keith is crouched over there? More incriminating evidence. Lance sighs. Keith really is too hot for his own good. 

Pidge plopped down next to Lance with a heavy thud.  
“Whatcha lookin at, prettyboy?” Pidge teased  
“PIDGE!” Lance shrieked “Shouldn’t you be sitting out there being a good ball boy?”  
“When have I ever been a good ball boy?” Pidge asked  
“...you right, man, you right.” Lance nodded.  
“You didn’t answer my question.” Pidge prodded  
“Keith’s ass.” Lance answered easily.  
Pidge sputtered “I didn’t think you’d admit to it that easily!”  
“You have a lot to learn, young pigeon.”  
Pidge laughed as she clapped Lance’s shoulder. “Top of the second is starting, buddy boy.”  
Lance huffed as he made his way out of the dugout, firmly shoving his glove back on his hand, making his way to the mound.  
Fuck. Lance Thought. The next batter up was Keith. Lance tried not to let emotion show on his face, as he was totally planning to use eephus pitch that Keith taught him to cover up better. Alas, It was not the eephus’ time to shine, as Keith easily hit it out of the park.  
“Your leg was still too high up, you failure!” Keith laughed as he rounded the bases.  
“Oh fuck you too, Kogane!” Lance laughed back as Keith stepped on the home plate. 0-1 against Galra High, and still three more outs to go. This was going to be a long game. 

Altea Tech did end up winning the scrimmage, because Hunk hit a go-ahead two run homer in the fourth, which kept Altea’s spirits high and put some pressure on Galra’s. The game was cut short due to Alteas homefield advantage and not having to bat the bottom of the fifth. The busses for Galra High were set to return an hour from the present, to make room for a possible sixth inning if it had come to that. The Galra High coach, Sendak, released his players and just told them to meet back in an hour; otherwise, they could do whatever they wanted. Altea’s practice reached its set endtime, so the Galra and Altean players were coagulating around each other, chatting.  
Keith walked up to lance and put an arm around his shoulders. “Hey, do you want to go get some ice cream or something?”  
Lance jumped at the sudden sound of someone talking, but his face was glowing with excitement. “Sure!”  
Keith sat passenger to Lance in the driver's seat, both still in uniforms from the scrimmage. It was a comfortable silence as Lance drove them both to the local ice cream parlour. It was called ‘five-lions’, which made Lance think about five guys a lot. Lance pulled into the torn up parking lot and haphazardly parked.  
“Doesn’t the name remind you of--” Keith started.  
“Five-guys? I knoooow. It’s like a burger joint, but with ice cream” Lance stated as he climbed out of the drivers seat.  
“So nothing like a burger joint?”  
“Exactly.” Keith laughed in response.  
The two walked in, caked in sand and dotted in grass stains, and approached the counter.  
“Hey Lisa!” Lance greeted the employee.  
“Sup Lance!” she replied. “What can i get you and your friend today?”  
“I’ll take some rocky road, please.” Lance ordered  
“Vanilla.” Keith simply requested.  
Lance look scandalized. “Vanilla?!”  
“Yeah? What’s wrong with vanilla?” Keith defended.  
“It’s like, the boringest ice cream flavor!” Lance not-quite fumed.  
“Vanilla is a classic and you know it!”  
“Vanilla ice cream killed my family, burned down my house, poisoned my crops, and stole my wealth!” Lance cried.  
“That sounds like a personal problem.” Keith deadpanned.  
Lisa, the worker, bursted out in laughter. The pair looked to her, questioning.  
“I’m sorry!” She managed between wheezes. “It’s just-- you two are so cute together!”  
Lance and Keith’s heads snapped towards each other before they both looked back at Lisa, faces growing red.  
“W-w-w-were not--” Lance sputtered  
“Absolutely not together!” Keith squeaked.  
“Uh-huh, and I don’t work at five-lions” Lisa winked as she handed them their orders.  
The pair kept their heads low to hide the blush as they reached for their ice-cream. 

Lance was licking his spoon when Keith spoke up “So, the state tournament is happening this weekend. There’s a chance we could face each other, you know.”  
“Yeah, in the finals.” Lance agreed. “But I doubt that's going to happen.”  
“Lance what are you talking about? You guys are first in your conference. I’m sure we’ll make it to state.” Keith assures.  
“Yeah, maybe you guys will. Not too sure about us, though.”  
“Lance. Altea Tech is a sport centric school. You’ll be fine.”  
“But we lost our powerhouse last year, I’m not sure how ready we’ll be.”  
“You guys are plenty ready.” Keith checked his phone for the time. “We’ll have to start heading back, times almost up.” Keith noted.  
“Yeah, yeah. Give me your trash, I’ll throw it away for you.” Lance offered  
“Oh, what a gentleman” Keith teased. The blush creeping on Lance’s ears did not go unnoticed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on tumblr @ unfairlawyer.tumblr.com  
> comments and kudos are always appreciated! <3


	5. Chapter 5

The following Friday, Keith came into the study session very excited. 

“Lance!” He enthused. 

“What?! Be quiet, we’re in a library!” Lance chided. 

“I got an A on my spanish test!”

“Oh fuck yeah, man! Did you finally start differentiating the Korean and Spanish grammar structures?” Lance poked.

“...yeah.” Keith blushed. 

“I’m honestly not sure how you even did that. Korean is a character based language, Keith! Spanish is alphabet based!” Lance teased. 

“Oh, shut up.”

“How’s your coach been treating you this week?” Lance asked.

“Like we’re his dogs. Nonstop yelling. He’s really working us hard.” Keith wilted. 

“Well, the state tournament is tomorrow, so I think that’s to be expected.”

“How about you? How’s your coach?”

“Well, It’s not so much our head coach as it is our assistant coaches. Coran is just the teacher who keeps it afloat money management wise, so he’s head. All our assistant coaches are hard-asses.” Lance groans. 

“Well, it worked apparently. You’re more accurate with your pitching now.”

“Whatever. Doesn’t mean they’re not hard asses.” 

“You got me there.”

Lance sighed. “Get out your section ten review and let’s start there”

 

Lance woke up Saturday morning feeling excited. He had to be at the school, in uniform, ready to catch the bus at 6 am to drive three hours away to the state tournament. Altea Tech had qualified for the tournament due to their win-loss average, their individual player stats, and their overall sportsmanship. The tournament was held over the course of one day, between sixteen teams. As one could probably guess, this was a long day. With the sheer length of baseball games already sets the schedule long, but any possible delay could make the day longer. He had looked at the schedule to see that the seeds. Galra High was the first seed, only having to play one game to make it to the finals, while Altea Tech was the third seed, and the only way they’d see Galra High was if they made it to the finals. Lance so desperately wanted to make it to finals. Shove his eephus pitch right in Keith’s face. 

 

Lance stepped onto the bus yawning, and firmly fell asleep once he his his seat. Until the tournament started, Lance was dead to the world. 

 

The bus rolled up to the venue a solid thirty minutes til their first game, who was against Garrison Academy. Their athletics were strong, and baseball was their powerhouse. They were going to be tough to beat. 

“Alright, Team!” Coach Coran shouted “The first game is at 9:30! We are playing at field C! Let’s go!” 

The team burst into-- albeit slow-- action as they gathered their things. One by one, they hopped off the bus and began down the long, twisty sidewalk to their destination. Passing by, they saw other teams heading to their own games. Their competition was built. They were big name schools everyone knew-- then again, Altea Tech was like that too.

As the team was walking to field C, they passed field E, where Galra High was gearing up to play their first and possibly only match of the day if they didn’t advance to finals. Lance failed to notice Keith jogging towards him until Keith was practically on top of him.

“Hey!” Keith said, grabbing Lance’s shoulder. Lance’s head whipped around and met Keith’s eyes. Keith’s hair was pulled back, eye black in streaks, messily applied with his fingers. “Good luck today, Lance, see you at the final.” Keith finished with a small smile reaching his eyes. 

“Y-yeah” Lance started, stunned. “You too, Keith” the boy concluded, returning the smile. The pair stood in each other's presence for a little longer, until one of Lance’s teammates called out. 

“Hey! Lover boy! Get back here! We’ve got a game to play!”

Lance startled, then laughed “That’s hunk. Good luck, Keith, see you around!” Lance turned around and lightly jogged back to his pack. 

 

The first game they had to play was Garrison Academy. According to Altea Tech baseball lore, this is where coach Iverson learned all that he knows. So, in short, Lance was shaking in his boots. Well, cleats. Since neither of the teams were, well, at home, a coin toss was thrown to see who got the advantage. Altea Tech, luckily, won the advantage and were set to be hitting at the bottom of the innings.

Lance took the pitcher's mound for the top of the inning. He knew that he wasn't going to be pitching much in the preliminary games, as if they made it to the final they sure would need his arm. But on paper, he’s a starter and needs to start. Lance thinks he’s going to get about three innings in for the first game, and maybe the second if it looks like they’re going to go to the final. Lance pitches a scoreless first inning, though not without hits. The second inning follows suit, though the third he gives up a triple and a single, which allows the Garrison to score. 

The team does get their run back immediately, with a homerun from Hunk. Lance is proud of his best friends ability to be a phenomenal batter as well as an even better catcher. Damn, Lance is lucky if he gets walked when he’s up to bat. The next batter hits a popfly for the third out, and Lance yawns and stretches his hands to the sky before being reminded he’s been benched to save his arm, so he promptly swings his arms down to propel him back onto the bench. 

Altea Tech barely manages to keep hold of their bearings, For every insurance run they score is taken immediately back by the opposing team. And then, before anyone realizes, it’s the bottom of the ninth and a tie game. They have a runner on third, ready to score, but with two outs, they don’t want to give responsibility to the eighth position hitter up to bat. The hitting coach looks into the dugout to examine his pinch-hitting options, and all he has is… Lance. Normally players already in the game cannot re-enter, but as high school baseball exists, high school baseball has its ways and wacky rules. So Lance sighs a shaky breath as he grabs his bat. Lance isn’t a great hitter, but he’s consistent in high pressure situations, the coaches must think, if they put him here. And Lance decides he’s going to bunt. He’s going to bunt like his life depends on it. 

Lance lets his bat drag behind him, foraging a line in the dirt as he walks up to the batter's box. Lance takes a deep breath as he steps in, bringing his bat up to a ready position. The pitcher begins his windup, and Lance quickly switches his stance to a batting stance. Lance’s eyes track the ball, and he places the bat in the should be exact-right position to bunt this ball into right field through the hole, so he’ll be safe and get the team a walk-off RBI. No big deal. Lance closes his eyes as the ball makes contact with the ball, and he runs as hard as he can to first base. He peeks his eyes open to see that he’ll be safe, and they’re advancing to the next round without complaint. Lance breathes a sigh of relief. 

The dugout cheers and pats Lance on the back as he enters, Congratulating him on his clutch hit. 

Coach Coran speaks up before it gets too loud. “Alright! Great job! This next game is the one that will get us into the finals or put us in the final for third place. Now we have an hour break between games, so get you all some lunch! We all know how long these games go, don’t even think you can try skipping!” Coran finishes his spiel with a quick succession of two claps, of which everyone responds with movement. 

Lance buys his food from the concessions stand and scours the crowd for a place to sit. In the back left corner of the setup tables, Lance sees Keith, Allura, and presumably Shiro. Perfect. 

Lance slides into the empty seat next to Keith with a rhetorical “Can I sit here?” to which everyone agrees. 

“Oh! Lance! This is Shiro, my boyfriend.” Allura introduced. 

“I figured.” Lance said as he shook hands with Shiro. “Did you know that she hid that you were her boyfriend from us for three years? She thought we’d get mad she was fraternizing with the enemy. Ridiculous.” he laughed. 

Shiro smirked a little, “Yeah, she’s not the only one ‘fraternizing with the enemy’ on this team, I see.” Keith paled a little to this comment, of which Lance blew off with an awkward laugh.

“Shiro! I swear you’re only funny around Keith. Am I not good enough for your humor?” Allura teased.

“I’m not being funny, I’m just trying to embarrass my brother.”

“Which is funny.”

“Hm. I guess so.” Allura and Shiro laughed with each other and got side tracked on their own conversation. 

“So, how’d your game go?” Lance asked Keith as he shoved food into his mouth. God, he was hungry. 

“Great. We’re moving onto the finals, you?”

“We won our first game. One more prelim game to play to see we’re moving on. It starts in about…” Lance checked his phone “Half an hour.”

“Fuckin’ good, I’m looking forward to seeing you in the finals.” Keith challenged. 

“Ditto, Keefy boy.” Lance snarled, half jokingly. Lance turned to Allura and tapped her shoulder “Hey, Allura, next game starts in half an hour, we better get a move on.” Allura nodded and they both moved to start leaving. 

Once their backs were turned, Keith yelled out: “See you in the finals, eephus!”

“You wouldn’t know it!” Lance replied with a wink. 

 

Altea Tech’s second game was against Kerberos Prep, a fairly easy matchup. Lance pitched for the first three innings, and prevented any fatal scoring. He did his job. But he was taken out because it looked like Altea Tech was moving on, judging by their already blown-out score of 14-3 in the top of the fourth. Really, how does Hunk do it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on tumblr @ unfairlawyer.tumblr.com  
> comments and kudos are always appreciated! <3


	6. Chapter 6

The Finals. The State finals. Blood, sweat, and tears brought them here. Hours of hard work and training brought them here. ‘Here’ being Gamefield A, Galra High vs. Altea Tech. 

Lance didn’t start the finals game, that job went to Rax. The coaches wanted to have lance pitch the second half of the game, to ensure a win. Just to think, a couple weeks ago Lance’s arm had been so shitty they were going to kick him off; but, now he’s an important asset to the game. Lance sat on the bench for the first five innings, watching ball after ball be thrown by Rax, but he managed to keep the game afloat. Unfortunately, Altea tech did not have the advantage in this game, Galra High did. Lance was put in to pitch during the sixth inning. It wasn’t exactly pretty, either. He walked the first guy, struck out the second guy, the third guy hit a popout, and the second and third baseman had gotten the baserunner in a rundown for the third out. 

The seventh inning meant the top of the order. Galra High’s leadoff hitter hit a double, which sucked, because that’s one in scoring position with no outs. The second hitter batted the leadoff man in with a sacrifice bunt, and Lance caught the third batter looking. Two outs were now on the board, and only one more out was needed to send them to the top of the eighth. The player hitting in the cleanup spot was Keith. Keith worked Lance up to a full count, with twelve pitches.  _ This li’l bitch just loves hitting foul, doesn’t he _ , Lance thought.  _ Fuck it! _ Lance thought, as he cocked his leg too high and moved his arm too far back, appearing to Keith like he was going to throw an eephus. But, he didn’t. He threw a perfectly normal pitch the the bottom left of the box for the third strike, and in effect the third out. Keith’s eyes met Lance’s, and Keith smirked in acknowledgement.  _ Nicely done,  _ it said in Lance’s mind. 

Miraculously, Lance pitched a three pitch inning at the bottom of the eighth. Three pop flies, one, two, three, sending them to the top of the ninth. 

Altea Tech did not have the lead. They were down by two with two outs with two runners on.  _ Full of deuces,  _ he thought _.  _ It was Lance's turn to bat, unfortunately. Lance smacked the top of his helmet and stepped into the batters box. The pitch came hurling towards him at a high velocity-- a fastball no doubt. Lance knew the timing on these pitches. He just had to rotate his hips a little faster and harder, extend his arms a little more, and-- contact. Lance launched the ball into deep left center field, sending the runners on third and second home. Lance kept running. As he rounded second base, he saw his coach waving him home. So he went. An in-the-park three-run home run is rare, but not impossible, Lance proved. 

Once in the dugout, Lance looked at Hunk, who saw the whole thing, and asked “How the  _ fuck  _ did I do that?” 

Hunk barked out a laugh and replied “the idiot out in center field bobbled the ball and ended up throwing it behind him. He’s a slow one too, bought you some time.” 

Lance nodded, squatting and faux-praying “The lord has blessed me on this divine day.”

“Lance, get up. You still have to finish this game off. We don’t have any insurance, so good luck.” Hunk informed as he pulled Lance off sunflower seed riddled ground. 

Lance huffed as he wiped dirt off of him. “Man, I wish Flo were here.” 

“Flo?” Hunk looked at Lance, puzzled. 

“Need some insurance.” Lance stated. 

Hunk howled with laughter “Maybe you should sign up for Geico, Lance. Save fifteen percent or more” Lance jokingly assumed an offended stance and scoffed as he turned to grab his glove.

 

Lance took the mound for the bottom of the ninth inning. The order had rotated to the top again. Lance, again, walked the first guy. Lance took his set position and quickly turned and threw the ball to first to pick the runner off. It worked, thank god, because Lance didn’t want to work any harder than he had to. The second batter hit a single, while the third batter hit a sacrifice flyout to get the base runner to second. Two outs. The cleanup batter is up-- Keith. 

Lance takes a deep breath. He throws a basic curve ball, which barely grazes the strike zone. Lance throws another pitch, which Keith fouls off. The count is now 0-2, one more strike and the game is over. Altea Tech will be State champions. 

Lance takes a deep breath and begins his wind up. He makes sure not to cock his leg too high or pull his arm too far back. He throws the ball and it makes a perfect path to the catcher’s glove. Lance can tell he’s done it, the way the ball left his hand just felt… right. Lance struck Keith out swinging. Altea Tech is the Illinois State Baseball Champions. But before the rest of the team can join Lance’s celebration on the mound, someone else is heading towards him. Keith appears to be charging the mound, making all sorts of thoughts run through Lance’s mind  _ What did I do? Did I make him mad? Why is he coming over here to fight? _ And when Keith gets close enough, Lance brings his arms up and braces for impact that never comes. 

“Hey” Keith started softly. Lance met his eyes “Congratulations on the win.” he finished, but before Lance could respond, Keith's eyes were closed and Lance was seized by the collar. Lance Felt himself be pulled downwards so Keith’s lips could meet his. Lance didn’t kiss back for a brief moment. He gathered his bearings. He could hear the roar of the crowd, cheering for the commotion in the center and for Altea’s win. But he tuned it out. Lance lost himself in keith, wrapping his arms around Keith’s neck, deepening the kiss. 

Keith pulled away to breath a few seconds later.

“Hey, sorry to ask you like this man, but, do you-- maybe-- want to go out sometime?” Keith asked.

Lance tilted his head back and groaned “Aw man, I was supposed to ask you that!” Lance laughed

“Lance!” Keith commanded sternly for an answer. 

“Shut up and kiss me, you nerd.” Lance smiled, leaning back in for another kiss. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I was originally going to post this as one chapter but realized that wasn't a great idea, so i posted it multichap, all at once! that's fun. Follow me on tumblr @ unfairlawyer.tumblr.com, comments, kudos, and spreading the word about this fic are always appreciated, except for baxter, if you tell anyone i will slit your throat!!
> 
> and as always FUCK YOU BAXTER :^)

**Author's Note:**

> Glossary of terms:  
> 'bottom' and 'top' on innings: a baseball game is broken up into nine 'innings', of which both teams bat. the first team to bat is called the 'top' of the inning and the 'bottom' is the second team to bat!  
> no hitter: the pitcher has not allowed a single run during the game  
> full count: the pitcher has thrown 3 of 4 allotted balls, and 2 of three allotted strikes   
> ball: a bad pitch that's outside the strike zone. 4 of these and the batter gets to automatically go on first base.   
> rubber: the small rectangle of white rubber the pitcher uses to pitch off of.  
> eephus pitch: a slow breaking ball in where the pitcher throws the ball high up into the air and it falls back into the stikezone, meant to mess up the batters timing  
> stikezone: a rectangle above the home plate where the pitcher is trying to throw pitches  
> walk-off: no further play is needed because the lead cannot be retaken by the losing team  
> grand slam: homerun with bases loaded  
> bases loaded: runners on all three bases  
> home field advantage: the home team gets to bat in the bottom of the inning. If losing, this means they can regain their lead without the other team being able to widen the gap or retake the game in the ninth


End file.
